Eli Manning played three series and made sure to work in a fumble. Afterall, if he’s not going to throw a pick, the least he could do was cough it up and ad some excitement and drama to the game. He had 18 touchdowns and 27 interceptions last year; needless to say the spotlight will be on him this year in an effort to see if last year was simply a fluke or if his career is truly in a downward spiral. One thing is for sure – if the Giants can’t run the ball efficiently this year, Eli is going to struggle again in 2014.

The Bills invested heavily rookie Sammie Watkins in the draft; they’re going to need to keep him healthy if they want to have any shot at competing in the AFC this year. EJ Manuel is a stud, hence, the reason why he was the only quarterback taken last year in the first round of the draft. All of that said, he’s a 2^nd year quarterback and 2^nd year quarterbacks don’t have a great track-record of doing well in the NFL. New head coach Doug Marrone is going to have his hands full making this Bills team into a winner, and that’s saying it nicely. I expect both teams to be under-performers to some degree this year, though on the bright side – neither is stuck in a super tough division.

Teams with a quarterback system advantage are 70-26 against the spread at 72.9% over the past four years. Money in the bank!

Teams to consider this year, especially off of a loss:

Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Denver, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York Giants, Pittsburgh, San Diego and St. Louis.

Let’s face facts, watching preseason games is often not that exciting, but information wins and kills bookmakers. That’s what I do at Jeff Allen Sports.

I started out the week going 3-0 in baseball, thanks to the Oakland A’s stomping the Texas Rangers. The Rangers swept the first series of the year between these teams and I knew the A’s had revenge on their minds. Also, Yu Darvish had gone 0-6 in his last 7 starts against the A’s; simply put the A’s have his number…and he was listed at -145, talk about stealing money!

I ended up taking my mother to Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Casino her first night here, which is easy to get to by taking the sky bridge overlooking Las Vegas Blvd. If you ever go there, get the Classique Steak Frites. It’s the best steak for under $30 in the world; it’s a filet with amazing crunchy fries. My mom got the grilled salmon and spinach salad, healthy and tasty. Since I’m a night owl, I had no problem gulping down an espresso for dessert.

I’m known for handicapping at night, sometimes all night. When the lines come out around 2pm here in Vegas I look over them and give them my initial thoughts and ratings. I also like to study the line movements, find out where the sharp money is landing as I’m often able to get a better understanding of the value-proposition. My selections are mostly math-based, which means long hours around my laptop, crunching numbers – though I never mind getting a tip from one of my world-class handicapper pals.

One thing I love about Vegas is having friends and family come into town. What a great week, making money handicapping for myself and my clients – and spending time with my mother. As good as it gets!

The one area of this that doesn’t sit well is the NBA punishing someone for something that was taped in his private residence. Let’s get real, he isn’t the only owner with skeletons in his closet and god only knows what is said in private at the residences of the other owners. Would the NBA have made Mark Cuban sell his shares if he ended up financing the 9/11 truth film Loose Change? What if an owner financed a controversial politician, would that be enough to make them sell their team? Where do you draw the line? Mark my words, this might be the first time this has happened in the NBA, but it won’t be the last. Also, as bad as the remarks were…it isn’t illegal to have those views. These weren’t views that he took to the airwaves to espouse, he said them in the privacy of his home.

The most comical part of this sordid story is Sterling being an ultra-hypocrite – dating a mixed-race woman, while claiming to not want to associate with minorities. His wife and family must be absolutely mortified and embarrassed to the max. If I had to make a prediction: V. Stiviano will either be convicted of illegally wiretapping Sterling or she will get pounded in civil court by the junta of lawyers Sterling has on the payroll. Either way, there will be no happy ending to this story – not for Sterling and not for Stiviano.